TORONTO – A remarkable first-inning ambush of Will Warren seemingly positioned the Toronto Blue Jays to cruise into a share of top spot in the American League East.
Five batters in they led 5-0, thanks to a two-run single from Alejandro Kirk and a three-run shot by Addison Barger. Davis Schneider — starting against a righty in part because he was 4-for-8 with a homer and two doubles versus Warren in the minors – added a two-run shot later in the frame.
With Jose Berrios staked to a massive lead, the first-place vibes at Rogers Centre were alive.
The New York Yankees, however, aren’t going to shrivel up and die. They went from laugher to leverage in the span of seven batters in the fifth inning, cutting an eight-run deficit down to two. They scratched out another in the sixth and after Schneider restored some breathing room in the seventh with his second homer of the day, a solo shot, Aaron Judge spoiled Yimi Garcia’s return from the IL with a game-tying two-run shot in the eighth.
Then, just when it seemed like the air had been ripped from the crowd of 30,985, the Blue Jays’ fate turned once more, in the bottom half, as George Springer scampered home on a Devin Williams wild pitch with the go-ahead run before Barger’s RBI single padded the advantage.
Jeff Hoffman, helped by a leaping catch at the centre-field wall by Myles Straw, took care of business in the ninth to close out a riveting 11-9 win. The Blue Jays and Yankees are now both 48-38, half a game up on the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East.
In a game featuring so many big blows, it’s telling that the game was ultimately won on the margins.
Springer worked a one-out walk off Williams in the eighth and promptly stole second, which prompted the Yankees to intentionally walk Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Kirk hit a fly ball to deep centre that allowed both runners to tag, setting up Springer’s scamper home for the go-ahead run. Barger then battled Williams before dunking in a single to left that plated Guerrero.
After the monster first, Berrios seemingly had the game pinned down, allowing only three hits through his first four innings before his night unravelled.
The Yankees opened the fifth with five straight hits off every weapon in the right-hander’s arsenal – Jasson Dominguez singled on a cutter, Anthony Volpe and DJ LeMahieu followed with singles off well-located four-seam fastballs, Ben Rice singled on a changeup before Judge laced a sloppy slurve off the right-centre field wall for a double that made it 8-3.
A Cody Bellinger line out to left field gave him a chance to get the inning back on track, and Berrios quickly got ahead of Giancarlo Stanton 0-2, missed with two chase fastballs and then hung a slurve that the slugger clobbered 415 feet.
The Yankees scratched out another run in the sixth on Bellinger’s fielder’s choice, making it 8-7.
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